Most people might envision a country home as having a white picket fence, exposed wooden beams and distressed details throughout. But when Brooklyn-based designer Charlene Miranda was hired to help put the finishing touches on a property in Litchfield, Connecticut, she put convention aside in favor of an environment that spoke to her clients’ unique perspectives. “They [primarily] live in the city, like nice things and have a very modern aesthetic,” Miranda explains. “The design is a juxtaposition between their aesthetic and the home’s countryside location.”
Of course, the project was also a juxtaposition between Miranda and her clients. At the beginning, the couple selected a few furnishings – such as the Phillip Jeffries wallpaper in the office and a Perigold rug that covers the blue-tinged bedroom – and Miranda was tasked with tying the space together. Despite gravitating toward contemporary finishes, the couple didn’t want to strip the home of its sense of place and decided to preserve the living room’s supersize stacked-stone fireplace.
Admittedly, designing a living room around a commanding hearth can pose a challenge. “It’s very hard, material-wise,” Miranda notes of the fireplace. “Not only in texture, but in color. The clients wanted to go lighter and softer.” Miranda contrasted the fireplace’s darker scheme by painting the walls in Benjamin Moore’s Super White. Meanwhile, a sumptuous sofa from Interior Define, leather-wrapped lounge chairs from RH and a Baker coffee table give this spacious area a speakeasy-like intimacy. “We wanted the home to be warm and inviting. It’s not only a space where they want to spend time by themselves, but also have others experience their world. Here, they can enjoy a cocktail, light a fire and enjoy their time together.”
While the living room celebrates togetherness – whether it’s bringing people together or pairing two different styles in one space – the home’s private spaces play with unbridled boldness: Miranda has evoked a “cozy, encompassed environment” by color-drenching the bedrooms. In the blue room, which is occupied by the couple’s older son, the designer paired a “suede” wallcovering from Phillip Jeffries with a duet of cornflower-hued table lamps from &Tradition, as well as trim in a custom blue from Benjamin Moore. “The wallcovering has this extra dimension that almost looks like it’s lime-washed, but it’s not,” she describes. “The monochromatic touches keep everything consistent.”
While the drenched bedrooms might zero in on one shade, Miranda brought a vibrant spirit to the home office, tapping Sacco to create the office’s custom rug, which is largely inspired by a fabric swatch she showed her clients. For balance, she offset the unmissable underfoot with butter-yellow wallpaper, a Līmen Studio credenza and a desk from RH paired with a chair sourced from Design Within Reach. “I think it’s okay to have one big element as long as you manage it with the right textures and colors,” Miranda explains. “Even though the rug is very loud, everything else is very quiet and subtle.”
But while bold décor is often synonymous with bright colors and hypnotic patterns, Miranda offers a soft side in the home’s bonus room. Here, she transformed a small nook into a relaxed spot where her clients could work and answer emails at their leisure. The alcove might seem casual in nature, but a custom, curved banquette from Smoke Ridge LLC and a coat of limewash by Portola Paints keep it streamlined and sophisticated. The result? The quiet, relaxed comfort of the countryside – but on modernists’ terms.
Photography by Matthew Williams.
Styling by Molly Fitzgerald.
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